You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter
552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 125468.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit ("DART") received a request for the complete investigative
file compiled by DART about an incident that occurred on January 4, 1999. The requestor
is an attorney representing the person who was the subject of the complaint. You submit to
this office the requested information and claim that it is excepted from disclosure by section
552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with a right to common-law privacy. You
also claim that it is excepted from disclosure by section 552.108. We have considered the
exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

The Public Information Act imposes a duty on governmental bodies seeking an open records
decision pursuant to section 552.301 to submit that request to the attorney general within ten
business days after the governmental body's receipt of the request for information. The time
limitation found in section 552.301 is an express legislative recognition of the importance
of having public information produced in a timely fashion. Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797
S.W.2d 379, 381 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ). When a request for an open records
decision is not made within the time period prescribed by section 552.301, the requested
information is presumed to be public. See Gov't Code § 552.302. This presumption of
openness can only be overcome by a compelling demonstration that the information should
not be made public. See, e.g., Open Records Decision No. 150 (1977) (presumption of
openness overcome by a showing that the information is made confidential by another source
of law or affects third party interests).

You state that DART received the request for information on March 25, 1999. This office
did not receive DART's request for a decision until April 12, 1999, more than ten business
days after DART received the request. Although chapter 552 of the Government Code
establishes a "mailbox rule" for requests mailed by United States mail, your request was
delivered by Federal Express.(1) Consequently, the date you delivered your request for a
ruling to Federal Express is not relevant in computing the date of delivery to this office.

Section 552.101 provides a compelling reason to withhold information from disclosure. It
excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either
constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." It encompasses information protected by
other statutes and by common-law privacy. It excepts from disclosure private facts about an
individual. Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976),
cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977). Therefore, information may be withheld from the public
when (1) it is highly intimate and embarrassing such that its release would be highly
objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and (2) there is no legitimate public
interest in its disclosure. Id. at 685; Morales v. Ellen, 840 S.W.2d 519 (Tex. App.--El Paso
1992, writ denied); Open Records Decision No. 611 at 1 (1992). The identity of the
complainant is protected under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 628
(1994), 393 (1983), and 339 (1982). Although portions of the requested information may be
considered highly intimate and embarrassing, there is a legitimate public interest in the
activities of a member of DART's transit police.

The need of a governmental body, other than the body that is seeking an open records
decision, to withhold information under section 552.108 of the Government Code may be
a compelling reason for non-disclosure. Open Record Decision 586 (1991). At this time,
however, we have no basis for concluding that a governmental body other than DART needs
to withhold the requested information. You must release the requested information with the
exception of information that identifies the complainant, which you must withhold under the
right of common-law privacy.

We are resolving this matter with an informal letter ruling rather than with a published open
records decision. This ruling is limited to the particular records at issue under the facts
presented to us in this request and should not be relied upon as a previous determination
regarding any other records. If you have questions about this ruling, please contact our
office.

When this subchapter requires a request, notice, or other document to be submitted or otherwise given to a person within a specified period, the requirement is met in a timely fashion if the document is sent to the person by first class Untied States mail properly addressed with postage prepaid and:

(1) it bears a post office cancellation mark indicating a time within the period; or

(2) the person required to submit or otherwise give the document furnishes satisfactory proof that it was deposited in the mail within the period.